Tutorials by K S Jewellery Designs

Thursday, 16 July 2009

Finally I am feeling normal again (with regards to my jewellery anyway!). My mojo has returned and at last I am creating again. I am going to bed thinking about my jewellery and waking up thinking about my jewellery. Last weekend I completed 4 commission pieces and as soon as I had finished the last one I got straight on to making some new pieces. Then today (when I should have be packing for our family holiday!) I thought 'I'll just make a quick bracelet first'.

'Quick' was not really what happened as I fiddled around for a long while. I had wanted a 6 petal flower so thought I could follow my Wire Flower tutorial and just add in an extra petal. That didn't work out so I had to make do with a 5 petal flower.

I had difficulties again coiling around 2 pieces of wire which kept slipping over each other. I think next time I will use thinner wire for the coiling. The swirl glass beads and purple glass disc bead came from Jenn at Kanna Glass Studios.

Monday, 13 July 2009

At the beginning of this month I blogged about the Tuscan Bead Set I won from Jenn at Kanna Glass. She challenged me and another lucky winner to design something from a similar set of beads. The beads said 'bracelet' to me and here is my Tuscan Bead Coiled Bangle Bracelet.

This is the first kind of coiled bangle I have ever made and I have to say my coiling is not perfect. This technique will certainly take practice. I did make a trial version with silver plated wire but with finer wire for the coiling. I used thicker sterling silver wire for the final piece which has certainly made it more sturdy (and more expensive!). The best thing about this kind of bangle bracelet is that it sits nicely on your wrist and doesn't swivel round.

Thank you to Jenn for the lovely beads and the challenge. It was great fun and certainly helped my inspiration to come back.

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

Today I saw that I have 100 followers of my blog (and 101 hearts of my Etsy shop). So to celebrate this, I have decided to have a giveaway of a pair of my Amethyst Shades Earrings (beautiful faceted rondelles of different shades of amethyst sitting together in pairs).

If you would like to win a pair of the above earrings just leave me a comment below with your details. I will draw the name of a winner on Monday 13th July so please check back to see you if you have won.

Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Ooo... it's been a while since I blogged. June/July are always very busy months for me with lots going on including many birthdays, family holidays and last weekend was Glastonbury Festival. My tenth year of going and this year was one of the best for me. We had the obligatory rain/mud but it soon dried out and I still managed to come home with a suntan having seen and done so much.

Her packaging and attention to detail is outstanding. It felt like my birthday as I opened up the beautiful little pillow boxes to find the lovely beads inside.

Then, very soon after that, I won another of her giveaways with a twist. To fit in with her Blooming in June theme, she sent me and another lucky winner a set of similar beads and has challenged us to create something with them and post our creation. I won this stunning Tuscan Bead Set with a fab swirly flower.

The colours are HOT, HOT, HOT (just like the weather here today) and the bead collection says 'bracelet' to me (might even manage a pair of earrings too). I have a few ideas swimming around in my head but I'm not sure whether they will work.

Thank you so much Jenn for all the goodies. I think you have helped me find my inspiration (it's been such a long time, I was thinking it had gone for good!). Watch this space...